Notes from the Kenya Parents meeting on
Thursday 28th April 2011
Please combine these notes with the PowerPoint from the meeting. The
information contained below covers most of the information passed on at
the parents’ meeting.
Slide 2 – The vision and the purpose of the trip
The purpose of the trip is to further support our partner schools in Kenya by
visiting them in 2012 and offering our assistance with building new classrooms,
teaching lessons and supporting their education.
Slides 3-11 – Pictures of classrooms before and after our trips
Slides 3-6 show typical classrooms at Lumuli Primary School as they were in
2006 and 2007. Over the last four years The Weald School has raised over
£120,000 through charitable activities such as the sponsored walk and this
money has been used to build 16 brand new classrooms (slides 7 to 11).
Slide 14 – The location of our project
The schools we support are located in and around Kitale, a town of around
70,000 people in the western area of Kenya near the border with Uganda.
Slide 15 – The Itinerary
This slide details the proposed outline of the trip. Please note that this is
provisional and will remain provisional until after the flights have been booked.
The latest possible return date for the trip will be the 13th August.
Slides 16-26 – Photos from previous trips
These photos show some of the tasks our students will be undertaking during the
trip. The main thrust of the trip will be to build new classrooms but we will also
be involved in supporting lessons, and every student on the trip will be expected
to deliver a lesson during our two weeks in schools.
Slide 27 – The Practicalities
The trip will cost around £1850 as explained in this slide. This is currently a
provisional total and will be confirmed in due time when exact prices for flights
and accommodation are known. This price does not include the cost of
vaccinations, malaria pills and any special equipment that will need to be bought
(e.g. a mosquito net).
Furthermore, each student will be expected to raise a further £300 in funds for
the Classrooms for Kenya charity (the “£300 challenge”). This money will be
used to buy the bricks, sand and cement that we will use in 2012 to build the new
classrooms. This £300 should be raised through sponsored events and other
fundraising opportunities and these are to be organised by students in their own
time. Please note – students are also invited to raise funds towards the cost of
their trip and this can be done after their £300 challenge has been completed.
For example, if a student organises a sponsored event and raises £400 they are
entitled to put £300 into the Classrooms for Kenya charity (thus completing their
£300 challenge) and then put the next £100 towards the cost of their trip, as long
as they stated this to their sponsors when asking for sponsorship. This
means that the harder our students work, the more they earn towards their trip.
Gift Aid forms can be downloaded from the Classrooms for Kenya website,
www.classroomsforkenya.org.uk. Please note that these forms can only be used
for the £300 challenge and not for any trip payments. £300 challenge payments
should be made to Classrooms for Kenya while trip payments should be made
via ParentPay to The Weald School (see below).
There will be a team building weekend in late June or early July (provisionally the
first weekend in July). This weekend is compulsory as we will use it to cover
health and safety, cultural training, basic bricklaying and other essential
information.
Slide 28 – Vaccinations
Each student is required to see their doctor to discuss travel vaccinations (this
won’t need to be done until January 2012 onwards). The doctor (or travel nurse)
has the final say on which vaccinations each student needs and each student
must follow their advice. Students are often asked how far away from a decent
medical clinic they will be (this information is important when considering the risk
from Rabies) – students will always be within 2-3 hours’ drive of good medical
facilities. The private clinics in Kitale (within 30 minutes’ drive of each school and
our accommodation) will be able to deal with the majority of health issues and,
the last time we checked, they stock Rabies immunoglobin.
Concerning dietary needs, many of our previous team members have been
vegetarians and this hasn’t been a cause for concern. However, anybody with
other dietary needs is invited to come and discuss them with Mr Richards.
Slide 29 – What to do next
If, after considering the cost and all the other implications, a student is keen to
come then we need a completed application form and we would like this handed
in by the end of May 2011. Trip payments will then commence from September
when the student returns for year 12 and these can be done in instalments. The
first payment will be a £250 deposit to be paid by the middle of October 2011.
Please note that if a student’s circumstances change and they pay the deposit
but then find that they are unable to go then, as long as this is confirmed before
the end of November 2011, at least 90% of the £250 deposit will be refunded.